Foldable Paperboard for Preparing a Paper Tube

ABSTRACT

A paperboard comprises a plurality of folding lines and paper panels. The paperboard is either intact or perforated. The paperboard remains unfolded and flattened during the storage and transportation. When it is used, the paperboard is folded up and tightened into a paper tube with a polygonal cross section so that small animals are able to pass through or stay inside the tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Small animals such as nocturnal rodents have been extensively used inlaboratories for many years to assist medical and pharmaceuticalresearch. They are particularly helpful for researchers to identifypromising therapeutic agents and understand their toxicity before theyare applied to human being. While sometimes it is unavoidable for theselaboratory animals to be sacrificed in the scientific studies, it ispossible to maintain a living environment that helps ensure theirwelfare in the laboratory. This is called environmental enrichmentprogram by some animal experts. Animals become more healthy and activewhen they live in a place facilitated by this program. It has beenincreasingly adopted for laboratory animals by research institutes forthe past decade.

One of methods in such program is to provide to laboratory animals aprivate shelter where they are able to hide, rest, or play when beingkept in cages. Because paper tubes are readily available in the market,they have been used recently as the animal shelter in researchlaboratories. These paper tubes are not for a permanent use. For thesanitizing purpose they need to be disposed after being put into cagesfor a certain period of time. Therefore, the demand of paper tubes forlaboratory animal use has been increasing.

However, when paper tubes are used as the animal shelter, two issueshave come up, the space and the cost. Because the paper tube is hollow,it occupies more space than the paper material itself For instance, alarge carton with a size of 20.25″H×20.25″W×30.25″L can hold only thirtypieces of round paper tubes of 5.00″ (diameter)×10.00″ (length). Most ofthe carton's volume is taken by these tubes' hollow space. In addition,the paper tube can't be folded up into a reduced size due to its fixedand stiff structure. Therefore, the size and structure of the paper tuberender cost increased during the transportation and storage.

Paper tubes have been widely used in the packaging industry for a longperiod of time. Different methods have been developed for themanufacture of circular and rectangular tubes. In U.S. Pat. No.4,300,963, Berg described a method of manufacturing cylindrical tubesfor containers, in which a foil web and at least one fiber web arehelically wound on a heated, rotating mandrel. In U.S. Pat. No.4,952,202, an apparatus is invented for producing a paper tube byhelically winding tape on a mandrel tightly and delivering the tubeformed from the mandrel axially. In order to make paper tubes with adesired size, one must assembly the apparatus with mandrel, paper tapefeeders, tube press, tube rotating-drawing device, resin-coated tapefeeder, drying over, and tube cutter. In another invention (U.S. Pat.No. 6,106,451), a method of making a cardboard tube with a rectangularcross-section is showed. In this method, the plurality of heatedcardboard strips with thermoplastic coating is passed through a guidingunit to create an overlapped configuration. The aligned plurality ofstrips is wound around a rectangular cross-section to form a rectangulartube. However, in all these methods, one needs to go through complexmanufacturing procedures such as feeding, heating, winding, and cuttingto prepare paper tubes. Devices with special design for tube-making haveto be used. Different machinery modes need to be set up to prepare papertubes with different sizes of cross section. The manufacturingcomplexity increases the production cost and drives up the price ofpaper tubes.

Therefore, it is needed to create a new type of paper tube for animaluse, which has a lower manufacturing cost and occupies less storagespace than the current product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The paper tube available on the market is bulky and manufactured with acomplicated process. The objective of the current invention is toprepare a paper tube for animal use, which is simple to be manufacturedand occupies less storage space than the currently-marketed product.

In accordance with the invention, the objective is fulfilled bypreparing a foldable paperboard wherein the board can be folded up intoa tube with a polygonal cross section when it is used. The hollow spaceof the paper tube allows small animals to stay inside. In order tofacilitate transportation and reduce the storage space the paperboardremains unfolded and flattened before and after the use. Themanufacturing process of the paperboard is simple and does not involvethe winding and binding steps of forming the traditional paper tube.Therefore, the manufacturing cost of paper tube is significantlyreduced.

The thickness and material of the paperboard may vary so long as they donot prevent the paperboard from being folded up into a paper tube.

In particular embodiments of the invention, the paperboard is cut into apredetermined shape with a desired size. The folding lines on thepaperboard separate it into multiple panels, which can be folded up intoa tube with a polygonal cross section.

In more particular embodiments of the invention, one or multiple paperpanels may be perforated with different opening patterns.

In other more particular embodiments of the invention, one panel at theend of the paperboard is turned into a paper flap, which is insertedinto the slot created along one of the folding lines to fasten the papertube.

In more particular embodiments of the invention, the paperboard furthercomprises a panel with a piece of board removed at one end of thepaperboard and the piece of board may have the same size and shape asthe paper flap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows two paperboards with paper flaps and slots. One (A) is witha piece of board removed and the other (B) is without any piece removed;

FIG. 2 shows two paperboards with paper flaps and slots. They are usedto form paper tubes with an octagonal cross section. One (A) is withoutany piece removed and the other (B) is with a piece of board removed;

FIG. 3 shows different patterns of openings on the paper panel;

FIG. 4 is a view of a paperboard when it is being folded up into arectangular paper tube;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rectangular paper tube with the paperflap being inserted into the slot.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The current invention relates to paperboards that can be folded up intopaper tubes to form shelters for small animals. The paperboard is cut toa predetermined pattern. A plurality of folding lines is made on thepaperboard, which comprises a number of paper panels. The panel at oneend of the paperboard can be trimmed to a size smaller than other panelsto form a paper flap. The paperboard remains flattened before use sothat it helps save space during the transportation and storage. When itis in use, the paperboard is folded up along the folding lines into atube with a polygonal cross section. The paper tube can be fastened byinserting the paper flap into a slop created along one of the foldinglines.

As shown in FIG. 1(A), the paperboard comprises five parallel foldinglines (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and six paper panels (a, b, c, d, e, f). The panela is a paper flap, which has a size smaller than other panels. A slot gis made along the folding line 5 between panels e and f. There is apiece of board removed from the panel fin (A). The paperboard in FIG.1(B) is the same as the one in FIG. 1(A) except that there is no pieceof board removed from the panel f. In FIG. 1(A) the shape and size ofthe cut-out is the same as those of paper flap a. However, the shape andsize of the cut-out can be different from those of the paper flap inother embodiments. These two paperboards depicted in FIG. 1 are used toprepare paper tubes with a rectangular cross section.

Now refer to FIG. 2. The paperboards shown in FIG. 2 are used to prepareoctagonal paper tubes, each of which comprises eight paper walls. Thereare total nine parallel folding lines, which separate each paperboardinto ten paper panels. The panel a′ is a paper flap, which has a smallersize than other panels. A slot g′ is created along the folding linebetween panels e′ and f′. Similar to those two examples in FIG. 1, theonly difference between paperboards in FIG. 2(A) and (B) is whetherthere is a piece of board removed from the panel f′.

The drawings in FIG. 3 show various patterns of openings used onpaperboards. These openings can be applied to some or all panels of apaperboard. However, these patterns are only used for illustratingexamples of the opening. Any variation from these drawings may be usedand is also covered by the current invention. In other embodiments, allpaper panels remain intact and there is no opening on them.

It is shown in FIG. 4 how a six-panel paperboard is being folded up intoa rectangular tube. The panel b is going to be laid on the panel f andthe paper flap a is going to be inserted into the slot g. The drawing inFIG. 5 shows a ready-to-use paper tube. The panel b is interlocking withthe panel f as the paper flap a is completely inserted into the slot g.The tube has total four walls. The rectangular cross section provides anempty space for small animals to pass through or stay inside the tube.Although they are not shown in the figure, openings may be made on anywall of the paper tube.

It is to be understood that the above description and drawings are onlyused to illustrate some of the most preferred embodiments of the currentinvention. They are not intended to limit the scope of the presentinvention. Any variation from the description and drawings such as thesize of the paper board, the shape of the paper panel and cross section,and the way of how the paper tube is fastened is encompassed by thescope of the current invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A paperboard comprising at least two foldinglines that separate the paperboard into at least three paper panels,which are either intact or perforated and can be folded up into a papertube having a polygonal cross section for animal use.
 2. The paperboardin claim 1 wherein the folding lines are parallel with each other. 3.The paperboard in claim 2 comprising four folding lines and five foldingpaper panels wherein the panels are folded up into a tube with atriangular cross section.
 4. The paperboard in claim 3 wherein the paperpanel at one end of the paperboard is a paper flap and is inserted intoa slot, which is made along the folding line between two paper panels atthe opposite end of the paperboard, to form the triangular tube.
 5. Thepaperboard in claim 2 comprising at least three folding lines and atleast four folding paper panels wherein the panels are folded up into atube with a quadrilateral cross section.
 6. The paperboard in claim 5comprising five folding lines and six paper panels wherein the panelsare folded up into a paper tube comprising four paper walls and arectangular cross section.
 7. The paperboard in claim 6 wherein thepaper panel at one end of the paperboard is a paper flap and a slot ismade along the folding line between two paper panels at the opposite endof the paperboard.
 8. The paperboard in claim 7 wherein the paperboardis folded up in a way that the paper panel next to the paper flap andthe paper panel at the opposite end of the paperboard are overlappedwith each other to form one wall of the rectangular tube.
 9. Thepaperboard in claim 8 wherein the paperboard is folded up into therectangular tube, which is fastened by inserting the paper flap into theslot.
 10. The paperboard in claim 9 wherein a piece of paperboard havingthe same shape and size as the paper flap is removed from the paperpanel at the opposite end of the paperboard.
 11. The paperboard in claim2 comprising six folding lines and seven folding paper panels whereinthe panels are folded up into a tube with a pentagonal cross section.12. The paperboard in claim 11 wherein the paper panel at one end of thepaperboard is a paper flap and is inserted into the slot, which is madealong the folding line between two paper panels at the opposite end ofthe paperboard, to form the pentagonal tube.
 13. The paperboard in claim2 comprising seven folding lines and eight folding paper panels whereinthe panels are folded up into a tube with a hexagonal cross section. 14.The paperboard in claim 13 wherein the paper panel at one end of thepaperboard is a paper flap and is inserted into a slot, which is madealong the folding line between two paper panels at the opposite end ofthe paperboard, to form the hexagonal tube.
 15. The paperboard in claim2 comprising eight folding lines and nine folding paper panels whereinthe panels are folded up into a tube with a heptagonal cross section.16. The paperboard in claim 15 wherein the paper panel at one end of thepaperboard is a paper flap and is inserted into a slot, which is madealong the folding line between two paper panels at the opposite end ofthe paper board, to form the heptagonal tube.
 17. The paperboard inclaim 2 comprising nine folding lines and ten folding paper panelswherein the panels are folded up into a tube with an octagonal crosssection.
 18. The paperboard in claim 17 wherein the paper panel at oneend of the paperboard is a paper flap and is inserted into a slot, whichis made along the folding line between two paper panels at the oppositeend of the paperboard, to form the octagonal tube.